Table 3 Odds ratios (95% CIs) for the chance of being cited, all types of articles included, N = 36, n = 570)

Article characteristics, study outcome

Crude OR

Adjusted OR^a

 Authors’ conclusion (pos vs neg)

1.4 (0.9–2.3)

1.8 (1.1–2.9)

 Data-based conclusion (pos vs neg)^b

1.4 (0.8–2.3)

–

Article characteristics, other content-related

Crude OR

Adjusted OR^a

 Article type (empirical vs narrative)

4.2 (2.6–6.7)

–

  medium

4.2 (2.1–8.4)

–

  high

5.8 (2.9–11.6)

–

 Study quality (fair vs poor)^c

1.6 (0.7–3.2)

1.4 (0.6–3.0)

 Specificity (cont)

1.3 (1.1–1.6)

1.4 (1.2–1.7)

Article characteristics, not content-related

Crude OR

Adjusted OR^a

 Language

^d

^d

 Conclusive title (yes vs no)

1.3 (0.9–2.0)

1.2 (0.8–1.8)

  profit or both profit/non-profit

1.6 (0.9–2.6)

1.6 (0.9–2.7)

  not reported

0.2 (0.1–0.4)

0.3 (0.2–0.5)

  3 – 4

2.2 (1.2–4.0)

2.1 (1.2–4.0)

  5 – 6

6.0 (3.0–11.9)

3.2 (1.5–6.6)

  ≥ 7

2.9 (1.6–5.1)

1.7 (0.9–3.2)

  2

2.0 (1.2–3.3)

1.7 (1.0–2.9)

  ≥ 3

2.2 (1.4–3.4)

1.4 (0.9–2.3)

  25 – 40

4.7 (2.6–8.6)

3.3 (1.7–6.1)

  ≥ 40

5.1 (2.7–9.6)

5.1 (2.6–9.8)

  2 – 4

0.5 (0.3–0.9)

0.7 (0.4–1.1)

  ≥ 4

1.9 (1.2–3.1)

2.0 (1.2–3.3)

Author characteristics

Crude OR

Adjusted OR^a

 Gender (female vs male)

0.8 (0.5–1.2)

0.6 (0.4–0.9)

  Other North West Europe

0.8 (0.4–1.7)

0.9 (0.4–1.9)

  South Europe

0.4 (0.2–0.7)

0.4 (0.2–0.7)

  North America

0.4 (0.2–1.0)

0.3 (0.1–0.7)

 Type of affiliation (other vs university)

1.1 (0.7–1.8)

0.8 (0.5–1.4)

Citation characteristics

Crude OR

Adjusted OR^a

 Time to citation (cont, in years)

1.0 (1.0–1.1)

1.0 (0.9–1.1)

  medium

2.4 (1.5–4.0)

2.8 (1.7–4.6)

  high

4.1 (2.2–7.8)

4.1 (2.1–8.0)

 Self-citation (yes vs no)^e

4.6 (2.8–7.5)

5.2 (3.1–8.8)